Blurred Lines
by Sherble
Summary: The lines between reality and the virtual world of Sword Art Online are blurred for Machiko as she takes on the battle of her lifetime. When Kyosuke shows up and begins to stir up trouble for her as she makes her way through the game, how will she handle it?
1. Welcome to Sword Art Online!

The ambiance in her room was quiet. Only the sounds of birds fluttering past and pecking at her windowsill garden fill the house. She was home alone, at least, for now. When her parents got home all hell would break loose. Which is why she fully intended to be in VR by then.

Meet Machiko Hajusuki. Daughter of Himawari and Daisuke Hajusuki. Her father was a doctor, her mother an up and coming interior decorator.

But... Times were tough, to say the least. For the past few months Machiko had herself holed up in her room playing video games and watching live streams- only retreating from the safety to pilfer some food from the fridge.

Recently, a leading game creator Akihiko, Kayaba released the game Sword Art Online for the NerveGear- the leading Virtual Reality technology all over the world. Machiko was lucky enough to get her hands on a copy from a shady kid at school through a few back alley dealings- the game had sold out in mere hours so she was lucky to have it.

Checking her system was plugged in so it wouldn't die on her, she set herself up on her bed and grabbed the headset, slipping it smoothly onto her head. She lets out a content sigh as she closes her eyes, giving herself a bit of a moment to remember what reality would be like when she came back.

"Link, Start."

Bright lights stream past her as her senses are analyzed and confirmed at 100% performance ability. She automatically logs into her account, greeting the screen that appears before her as if it were an old friend she hadn't heard from in years.

 **WELCOME TO SWORD ART ONLINE!**

After a moment for load delay, she is brought to a build your character area. In front of her is basic character model- dark hair and soulless dark eyes staring straight ahead. Male.

First of all, she was a female, so she changed that right away. Next order of business, her hair.

She hated the dull, faded brown her normal hair was. It was short and wavy- too wavy. Tangly, if she could call it anything. She wanted it long and dark. Elegant.

Then, the eyes. Boring brown didn't suit her tastes for eyes either. She preferred bright, vibrant green.

She needed to be skinnier, that's for certain. Her chest needed to be more filled out.

And once she was done, she looked it over. Those green eyes, filled with beauty and luster like that of the real world... They were still empty. But, then again, it was only a model.

Accepting her character, she is asked to verify if she is positive she wishes this to be her appearance, as it will be permanent. Accept.

 **Character Name: |**

The blinking line was daunting. Most of the cool names were probably already taken. No matter. Her name was probably the only thing she actually liked about herself anyway.

 **Character Name: Machiko |**

Accept character name? Accept.

Are you sure?

Accept.

 ** _Welcome, to Sword Art Online._**

 ** _(A/N: Yes, I am aware I have too many stories that are incomplete. Am I gonna do anything about it? Surely the hell not. I decided to remake Virtual Realities with a new OC cause I can't sleep and it was bugging me how little I actually tried on that story so here you go. Sorry this chapter was short, I typed it on my phone.)_**


	2. SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: WELCOME TO MY WORLD

In a flash of searing blue light, Machiko finds herself in the center of a small town. A town the map seemed to call 'The Town of Beginnings'. It was a quaint little safe zone to say the least, all though the dozens of arriving and already wandering people made it feel cramped.  
She decided to go get herself a basic weapon and swish it around a bit with a low-level mob to figure out the game mechanics and maybe level up a skill or two. She discovered within minutes that there seemed to be an endless amount of skills to chose from. She, preferably, would like to earn the defense skill for shielding and the offensive skill for any one handed weapon.

So, setting out, she explored shops and small areas where basic armor was handed out. Eventually landing herself a basic, one handed sword, she bails on the shield for now and decides to venture into the open fields just outside of town.  
As she farmed XP and Col by slaughtering hundreds of innocent boars, she couldnt help but take in the world around her. She knew the expanse was intended to be vast and free roaming- but never in all of her VR experiences had she imagined something of this scale. And it all felt so... real. Sure, every now and then she would snap back into her 'its a game' fix and the grass wouldnt be as soft and the rocks wouldnt be as believably textured but none the less... It was impressive.

She figured out and quickly mastered the activation and use of a few basic sword skills which improved combat duration, speed and agility but she knew that some point later on she would need a shield. And unless something in the real world changed soon... Well, this would grow boring fast.  
As the sun began to set over the horizon, Machiko sheathed her sword once more.  
 _I'd better call it quits. If I'm right I haven't eaten anything in 2 hours.  
_  
Lifting her right hand, she flicks downward and reveals her player menu. She clicked the main catagory and scrolled down to the bottom. Only, there seemed to be a problem.  
Universally, the bottom slot is where all Log Out buttons go with NerveGear compatible games, but for some reason the button was missing the label. What was even more odd was the fact that she couldnt even select it. Her finger hovers over the gray box, but the orange outline stays on the selection above it.  
She frowns. "Thats... Odd."  
 _Oh well, its probably just a glitch. After all, this IS only the first day out of Beta. I'm sure the Game Master's and server admins are flipping their shit right now... It'll be fixed in no time... Then again... Are they even aware there's a problem?_  
She scrolls down to the emergency GM contact option and begins a dial-up. No answer.  
 _So we're all just stuck in here until they realize there's a problem?! What bull! I want Tsukiyaki!_  
With a dissatisfied huff, she begins to walk back to the Town of Beginnings. Maybe if she were lucky, she could by an upgraded weapon? As much as she liked the single handed sword, it wasnt really her style- plus it was a basic starter weapon. She needed something cooler. Stronger. More durable.  
A shield would be nice too.  
Slowly, as she gets closer to the town where her adventure would begin, the sound of a bell rings out. The tolls grow steadilly louder with every passing second, until she has to stop and nearly plug her ears. The tolling was filling her mind. The sound of the bell was engraving itself into her head. It didnt hurt, but it wasnt pleasant.  
And suddenly she wasnt in a field anymore. No, she was at her destination.  
The Town of Beginnings.  
Much to her shock, other people were arriving too. She had learned of the teleport crystals and portal crystals during her basic run down of exploration but nobody should have any yet. Someone forced this teleport.  
Looking around, she finds herself surrounded by players. She was growing claustrophobic just looking at the sea of people. Everyone talks in confused mutters, asking if this was an event and what was going on. Out of the crowd, though, she could see a select few who knew this wasnt right. The look in their eyes was a deeper kind of confusion.  
Ah, yes. The Beta Testers.

Those lucky 1000 players who had the chance to play the game in its final developmental stages and figure out every mechanic they could. They knew this wasn't normal.  
A tall someone towards the back of the crowd points to the sky. "What's that?" He yells above the whispers. Everyone looks up, the whispers dying down as a low and droning alarm sound rings about them. Machiko frowns upon sight of the source.  
A single hexagonal tile labeled with the word: **WARNING**  
 _Well that's comforting._  
In a flash, identical tiles spread across the sky and over the tops of buildings, throwing the creatures in the sky, the clouds and anything else in the great blue above into a red haze.  
The beeping stops and the label changes.  
 **SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT**  
System a-whot-now?

Slowly, as all attention diverts to the tiles and an eerie silence befalls the sea of VR enthusiasts, Machiko spots something beginning to seep from in between the tiles. A thick, red substance that slowly converges in on themselves. In a rather horrifying twist, the mystery liquid forms into a pulsating lump which eventually takes the form of a floating, cloaked figure. Color seeps into the 'fabric' giving the gloves on the figure's hands a fresh, newly bought look. The deep purple and gold on the robe shimmer slightly in the dim light of the red dome surrounding the town and the fabric itself flutters faintly in the wind. All in all, it was a bit creepy. This was supposed to be the Game Master, judging from the icon that had popped up during her attempt to dial him up. But if he was... Where was his face?  
Why was he hiding?  
Slowly, his arms rise up and spread as an eagle would spread its wings before flight. Making an analogy here, Machiko had a feeling she was in for one heck of a ride.  
A disembodied voice booms out over the town square as she gulps down the bile rising in her throat.  
"Hello, and Welcome to my world."


	3. My name is Akihiko, Kayaba

A slow frown develops on Machiko's face.  
 _What does he mean 'his world'? Sure, he's a game master, but he didn't develop the game..._  
As if to answer her question, the disembodied voice comes once more from within the empty cloak. "My name is Akihiko, Kayaba,"  
 _Ah._  
"And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Low murmurs begin to ring out amongst the crowd again, but Machiko remains silent with confusion and shock. Slowly, Kayaba' hand lifts up and flicks down, revealing an enlarged menu for himself. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed by now that there is an item missing from your menu's- the Log Out button."  
 _So we're finally gonna address the problem then? Jeeze, why does this guy have to be such a drama queen if he was just gonna tell us the problem was being fix-_  
"Let me assure you that this is _not_ a defect in the game."  
 _What?_  
Now he was trying to throw us all for a loop. What a jokester, this Kayaba. Haha, yes, we've had our confusion and you've had your giggles. But in case you haven't noticed, half of us are hungry. Could you just force a Log-Out through the system already and fix the bug?...

Kayaba's finger hovers over the Log Out button on his menu.  
"I repeat. This is _NOT_ a defect in the game. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."  
Machiko bites her lower lip, her anxiousness growing and her wish to be out of the stupid game higher than ever. She knew she couldn't rip the helmet off- all of her motion was nullified by a transmitter in the helmet. It intercepts all of the signals you send to the brain for muscle movement and diverts it to in-game actions. Until someone came in and took it off she was stuck this way.  
More murmuring breaks out among the crowd, but once again, with his mighty voice Kayaba is able to dissolve it.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut off or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the head-rig will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."  
Dead quiet follows these words. Nobody wanted to believe it but deep down they knew it was true. Everything gives off waves, and more than half of anything (technological or not) gives off a microwave signal which have been proven causes of damage to parts of the brain under prolonged exposure. A direct hit of a strong enough wave would fry your brain in an instant. Sure, it would be painless.  
But you would be dead.

This left Machiko thinking. Maybe finding a way to kill herself in the game (if all of this bologna were true) would be her solution to ending those vexing troubles in the real world. School. Home. Social life. Politics. Economy- she wouldn't have to worry about any of it anymore.  
No. She shouldn't think like that, she tells herself. She had gone over this with herself several times.  
No suicide allowed.

Slowly the silence turns to frantic confusion and yelling. Several people try to leave only to run into the dome surrounding the town. Kayaba was prepared to make everyone listen. Whether they wanted to or not. Kayaba clears his throat, ignoring the steadily increasing panic around him. "Despite my warnings, several friends and family members of players have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result: the game now has 213 less players than the initial log-in of players. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."  
Now, Machiko was scared. Around her, people gasped, but her breath couldn't seem to find a way to enter or leave her. Her body was frozen and a lump was forming in her throat.  
No way...  
At first she wasn't going to believe any of it, but as live news footage on the panic that had arisen in the real world over Kayaba's crimes and profiles of the dead players are produced she remembered once again who Kayaba was.

He developed this God forsaken game. He knew all about it.  
He was being genuine. They couldn't escape.  
"It is important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to 0 your avatar will be eliminated from the system. Forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."  
The panic was beginning to settle in. Machiko's hands shook violently, no matter how hard she clenched them. No matter how deep the crescent-moon shaped marks she made into her palms went. The shaking was spreading to her arms, her shoulders, her torso, her knees. Her eyes widened as she imagined the worst case scenario.  
A boss fight killing her.

Her HP hit 0 - her avatar deleted from the system- and back home, her mother and father wept over the body of a girl with a fried brain.  
Her parents! What were they doing right now? What were they thinking? Were they sad? Did they miss her? Have they been crying?

"There is only one way for a player to escape now: " A small wave of relief crashes over the players. There was still a chance. "You must clear the game."  
 _Simple enough._  
"Right now you are on Floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may progress up all 100 floors-"  
 _Oh yeah... SAO is an RPG..._  
"Once you defeat the boss on Floor 100, you will clear the game."  
But that was impossible, it seemed. Everyone knew that not even the Beta Testers could have made it that far. SAO was supposed to be the leading game not only for Virtual Reality, but for an MMORPG game without magic. The bosses and mobs were intended to grow increasingly difficult, as normal, but even if there were only 100 floors everyone knew their very best would have to go into every small scuffle and every war-waging boss fight.  
"Lastly, I've placed a little present in the storage of every player. Please, take a look." After a moment of hesitation, everyone opens their menu's and selects the 'Gift' Icon.


	4. Mirror Mirror

A small reflective object drops into Machiko's hand. Her reflection stares back at her. Those soulless green eyes. That long dark hair. Her well defined facial features. By every standard, she was beautiful like this. However she knew better that Kayaba probably had something hidden up his sleeve.  
But what?...

Suddenly, a blue aura shines around her, engulfing her in bright light. She gasps, dropping the mirror as she hears the same happen to the other players. After a moment, the light fades. She looks around, confused, slightly mortified.  
What she finds comes to even her as a shock.  
The crowd in appearance looked significantly different- she didn't know how she could tell but she had a feeling... Their avatar's were gone. Their true bodies were revealed to all who wished to see.  
 _Then that means!_  
Whipping around, she snatches up the mirror again, peering into its cracked reflection.  
Dull, hopeless brown eyes stare back at her and a mess of tangled brown hair covers her head down to her shoulders. Her eyes widen as the mirror shatters.  
Her freckles were back.  
She was back to her normal weight.  
How?! Why?!  
This must have been some kind of sick joke to Kayaba, one meant for laughs. To her she felt as if her entire personality had been stripped away from her.  
"I bet you are all wondering "Why?". "Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing?". I have already achieved my goal."  
 _Goal of what, you sick psychopath?_  
"I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for personal enjoyment."  
Gritting her teeth to the point where she thought they would snap, Machiko growls.  
"So now it comes out, huh?... Kayaba was just a sicko waiting to trap all of these innocent people... He's practically a serial killer." She spits, talking to nobody in particular.  
"And now, the preparations are complete." The cloak slowly begins to destabilize, beginning to manipulate itself as if the invisible body inside were contorting. "This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players... I wish you the best of luck."  
 _Hmph. 'Luck' my ass._

In a glitch of pixels and dark smoke, the anigma that is Akihiko, Kayaba vanishes. Quiet settles over the town again as the dome trapping the players disables. For a solid minute, not a word is spoken.  
And then the first, shrill scream pierces the air- the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife.  
And then the panic took over. People ran, screamed, cried, collapsed or froze.  
Machiko was one of the few people that stood perfectly still.  
 _I'm stuck here..._ She thought. _I'm... I'm going to die here!_  
And as the players fled from the Town of Beginnings, she was left alone, standing beside the fountain as silent tears she wasnt aware of traced down her cheeks.  
No matter what, she was destined to die.  
No matter what, she was alone.

And for once she didn't want to die.  
And for once she didn't want to be alone.

 **(A/N: Yeah, another short one. Oh well.)**


	5. Guilded Knights

Once she had finally learned to accept the fear, the panic, the anger and the emptiness and the fact that she was alone from now until her final hour in Sword Art Online, she gathered herself and exited the town square, wiping her eyes. She thought long and hard about what she should do.  
Soon, the low level mobs in the fields wouldnt provide much XP, Col or items now that the game was becomming limited. Her best bet would be to gear up and push through the open fields to another town while other player's farmed for XP and items. So, thats what she did.  
Sword unsheathed she made her push through the fields, slaying anything that should attempt to come between her and her destination. The continuous spawn of mobs provided good distraction for her. Soon, her feelings were isolated and pushed back. She was all strategy now. How would she survive as long as she could- what would her next move be?  
When would she explore the Floor 1 dungeon?

Upon reaching the next town over, Machiko takes the Col she earned from mob slaying and heads to the shops. First thing first: If she didnt get better weapons and armor she would never make it to the next boss.  
She finally grabs herself a shield and a few crystals for teleporting or healing. She would have to practice with the shield to get better, but she prefered having a defense besides a risky block with her sword. And over the next month, things get serious.  
2000 people have died so far. Even after a month, none of the players have been able to clear the Floor 1 dungeon. Even the Beta Testers couldnt tell anyone where the Boss Room was- they had no clue. But many people didnt believe them.  
Beta Testers have been harassed due to the belief that they either withhold information or use their superior knowledge of the game to 'cheat' the rest of them out of their well-deserved currency and Items. The level of distrust in the game was unnerving. People tended to stick together- with their groups of in-real-life friends or with those they had made quick alliances with after the panic of the official launch 'tutorial'.

Machiko herself tended to work solo- however she was responsible for the most current map of the Floor 1 dungeon given out to major guilds who fought the front lines who would eventually spread that knowledge to the public. She had gone in and explored most of the dungeon, avoiding combat when she knew it was unnecessary and fighting her way through when it was. Today, however, she had a decision to make.  
Would she join the party planning to scout out and defeat the Boss? Or would she wait in the safety of a nearby inn.  
It was a tough choice. On one hand, if she went to help she could defeat the Boss and progress the players' through the game- improving their chances of beating it and going home. On the other, if she went to help and died... She wasn't coming back.  
If she stayed at an inn she would be ridiculed for not helping the cause but she would live on to see the next Boss Fight.  
Decisions, decisions...

For once, she decided to put her life first. She gathered as much intel as she could on the Raid party though. Parties of six teamed together to form a group of a sufficient size to raid a Boss Room. It was certainly a good plan. The leader of the group, Diabel, seemed like he knew what he was doing. She wished them luck.  
However, her luck didn't seem to mean much.  
The 1st floor was defeated that day... but in exchange, Diabel gave his life and Beta Tester cloaked in black has become known as the 'Beater'.  
She was getting sick and tired of the distrust and death, and it had only been a month since the game started.

After the First Floor was beaten, players took great strides in developing new and quicker ways to get through dungeons and beat Bosses. Guilds were developed, the most prominent of them being the Aincrad Liberation Force and the Knights of Blood Oath. Sure, there were other notorious guilds such as the Laughing Coffin, a guild that revolved around Player Killing or the Divine Dragon Alliance but they would never gain as much popularity as the KBO or the ALF. Machiko still stuck to mapping - and she earned quite a bit of Col for it too. However as the game progressed in difficulty she wasn't sure how long she could keep going solo. Her levels were high, sure, but not as high as the Beater cloaked in black. Supposedly his level caused him to regenerate so quickly that if a player were to go at them with an entire clearing Guild on their side no damage would be taken. He was a legend. To some, a myth.

Machiko knew he wasn't a myth. As she started raiding dungeons and clearing Bosses she became familiar with many people from many guilds. Asuna Yuuki was the Second in Command to the Knights of Blood Oath. They had only met once but judging by her stature in the guild, the way she acted and her skill in combat she knew that Asuna was a worthy foe. One boy always fought it off with her, though. For every strategy. A boy in black.  
Machiko supposed that this was the infamous 'Beater' but she didn't care to ask. They never talked much, only during combat when calling for orders. He was just as skilled as she or Asuna, she observed.  
So many people.  
So many floors.  
All the time in the world.


	6. Fuurinkazan

Today is the day.  
Today Machiko would join a guild. Sure, she wasnt entirely up for it but she had a feeling that it needed to be done. For now, at least.  
She didnt want to join any big guilds though. Knights of the Blood Oath and the Aincrad Liberation Force were definate no-no's.

She preferred something... Smaller. Only a few members with decent levels. So, her search began. First at Taft, then in the Town Of Beginnings. She couldnt seem to find a guild that fit her guide lines. However she did remember one group in particular. She wasnt sure what they were called, but they were on the front lines more often than most guilds their size. Their leader seemed to have a lot of connections.  
After hours and hours of asking around, she learned the information for the guild. Fuurinkazan. The guild currently had about 9 members, but usually the same six went on clearing missions. Klein, their leader, used a Katana Skill rather than a basic sword. She liked the uniqueness of it.

Her hunt for the guild turned up no trace, so she decided to message Klein.  
 _ **Machiko: Klein? My name is Machiko. I was wondering if you'd meet me at the Tavern in Taft. I'd like to talk with you.**_  
After about 5 minutes, she earns a reply.  
 _ **Klein: Machiko, was it? I'll see you in ten.**_  
Gathering her things, Machiko sets out for Taft. She ended up a few minutes late as the crowding was heavy this time of day. As she entered the Tavern she looked around hoping to spot someone attempting to wave her over. As she had hoped, a man with a bandana around his head sat by the bar. A message popped up.  
 _ **Klein: 'S that you in the purple-ish armor?**_  
 _ **Machiko: Yes.**_  
She begins to head over, only to pause as her message pings again.  
 _ **Klein: You're shorter than I thought you'd be.**_  
Looking up, Machiko shoots him a look as he grins and pats the seat next to him. She heads over and takes a seat.

"So," She looks him over. "You're Klein."  
"And you're Machiko." he smirks looking her over before holding out a hand. "Nice to meet ya." She accepts his hand and gives it a curt shake. "Although what I wanna know is what you wanted to talk about." She could pick up on the implied question of how she got his information to message him.  
She leans back in the bar chair and crosses her arms. "I was thinking of joining your guild- that is, if you'd have me."  
Klein blinks. So she'd heard of the guild? Interesting. He looks her over again.  
 _She's certainly pretty, but that's not the point. I don't doubt her skill- I've seen her on the front lines. I doubt she'd let the boy's give her any trouble..._  
He hums. "Tell you what. You come with me and farm some mobs and I'll decide after."  
Well he certainly was thorough- despite everything she'd heard about him. She was just waiting for him to ask her for her number for 'once this was all over'.

She nods slightly, adjusting her armor. "Yeah, sure." Standing, the two make their way out of the Tavern and over to the Gate nearby. Klein looks down at her.  
"Where do you wanna go?"  
She shrugs, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Wherever you want to. You're the Guild Leader, here." He nods and pulls out his teleport crystal.  
In a blaze of blue the Gate opens and they step through. Machiko feels that familiar sense of being stretched as her mind seems to expand. And then in an instant it is over.

Around her is an open field, a tree line visible on the horizon. Ahead, many feral mobs meandered the grass, growling and hissing at anything and everything.  
So the farming began.


	7. Update

So

I'm clearly not working on this anymore

However I'm either in the process of, or am considering, rewriting this story. I'm sorry for such a long hiatus- and I can't guarantee that ill be active consistently but I want to start writing Fanfiction again.


End file.
